CTB News

Atlanta, June 29, 2016 — The CDC’s recent release of the 2015 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance indicated that youth across the U.S. are now less likely to have sex than they were 20 years ago. In fact, today nearly 60% of high school students nationwide have not had sex, an increase of 28% since 1991.1

Atlanta, August 11, 2014 — Local educators in Monroe County Georgia were pleased to see the latest statistics showing dramatic declines in teen pregnancy in their community. From 2003 to 2010, pregnancy rates among 15 to 17 year olds in Monroe County declined from 30.5 to 13.3, a 56% reduction in teen pregnancy.[1]

Atlanta, March 29, 2012 — A just released peer-reviewed, published study found that Choosing the Best, an abstinence-centered sex education curriculum, successfully reduces the initiation of teen sex. The study, “Impact of Choosing the Best Program in Communities Committed to Abstinence Education” by Lisa Lieberman, Ph.D., was published in the March 21 edition of SAGE Open.

Atlanta, December 8, 2011 — A recent analysis by researchers at the University of Georgia, titled “Abstinence-Only Education and Teen Pregnancy Rates: Why We Need Comprehensive Sex Education in the U.S.” draws faulty conclusions and offers little help or insight into the complex problem of teen pregnancy and how to solve it. The UGA researchers classified states according to their laws about sex education and found that states that had laws or policies emphasizing abstinence had, on average, higher teenage pregnancy and birth rates while those whose policies emphasized comprehensive sex education had the lowest teen pregnancy rates. The researchers used this correlation to draw a faulty conclusion that abstinence education was actually causing higher pregnancy rates, violating basic research protocol against using correlations to claim causation. In fact, the study’s lead researcher, Kathrin Stanger-Hall admitted, “Because correlation does not imply causation, our analysis cannot demonstrate that [states] emphasizing abstinence causes increased teen pregnancy.”

Abstinence Education More Effective than Comprehensive or Safe Sex Programs

Atlanta, February 3, 2010 — A new study shows that abstinence education significantly reduces the initiation of teen sex and is more effective than either comprehensive or safe sex programs. Published in the current issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, the study evaluated urban, middle school students receiving one of three different types of sex education programs: